Who Do You Remember?

Chapter 6: Escapism

"This is how it tends to go in the early-game. You can't be too physically weak, and you also shouldn't try to establish yourself as too much of a leader. Your tribemates will get sick of being 'bossed around' and kick you out quite quickly. Even so, you can see that their communication is absolutely crumbling."

"And saying that the other tribe is a 'weak-ass team' for like... using strategy? That's really dumb," Haruto nods. "And... then they got mad at someone ELSE for trying to pull the group together? Well. James was a little sexist, so I guess that wasn't the worst call."

"Keep in mind, also, they have next to no food or water, their shelter is ineffective against rain, and their morale is in the toilet. Cooperation would likely get more and more impossible the longer their loss streak became. And of course the edit would take advantage of that. Note how, after Jolanda gets ousted, James says that they'll win with democracy, and then the edit immediately shows them having no idea what to do with themselves."

Haruto thought long and hard about this. "Do you have enough food and water? Is your house okay?"

"Shut up!" He gave Haruto a chummy shove to the shoulder at the roundabout diss.

The season was playing on double speed. To both boys' delight, they realized rather quickly that both of them enjoyed cranking up the pace– Haruto because it helped him focus for longer, and Keiji because it was a time-saver. They were at Haruto's house yet again. Keiji hadn't expected to be back so soon.

A few more hours passed. "Damn. Stephenie really was a great person and player. It sucks that she had to go out in seventh place."

"Ehhh," Keiji waved his hand side to side a bit. "The thing is, she was the ultimate underdog. Of course she got a favorable edit. Great player? For sure. Great person? Not quite. Actually... do you care about spoilers for the next season?"

"Nope, go ahead."

"She gets to return in Survivor: Guatemala and winds up looking a lot less altruistic. Her confessionals end up seeming very catty. In all honesty, we can't possibly know what she's like in her day-to-day life. Assigning morality onto these people is akin to assigning morality onto voice actors based on the characters they play. The edit highly impacts what we see– there's even something called the Purple edit, where the show practically ignores the very existence of one of the contestants. Furthermore, the contestants are aware of this. They may very well be playing up certain aspects of their personality to prove to execs that they're entertaining enough for them to focus on. Everyone always acts to further their own ends– whether they're aware of it or not." His grey eyes stared straight ahead; he didn't face Haruto as he spoke.

"I'd never thought about that before."

"They initially promoted this show as a social experiment, but it's reality TV. The true social experiment is trying to peer beyond the veil and look past the first layer. In my childhood..." he paused. Haruto listened attentively, which spurred him on. "My parents and I liked to try and guess who would win based on the edits from the first few episodes. We weren't always right, but it was... nice." The softest trace of a smile lingered on his face.

"How old were you when you started watching it?"

"Not sure. My memories of Survivor span as far back as I can recall."

Haruto giggled, patting his lap with his hands in a cheery rhythm. "I don't think I watched anything live-action until I was like, nine! I was a cartoon kid."

"Aside from reality TV, I mostly watched documentaries. My parents generally considered cartoons a waste of time unless they were in a different language, so I rarely watched them. They weren't challenging enough. I already knew whatever they were supposed to teach. I have studied a few, though. Pop culture is one of my favorite subjects."